Part One | Part Two

Author's Note: One of my friends really wanted this to be slash, which is why I was divided, but it just wasn't working for me with this story so I kept it gen. I may write a slash sequel or a kind of epilogue for her, but as it is this part works as an end and a standalone gen story. Thanks again to everyone that reviewed, it's much appreciated, and I'm sure the first part of the story would still be sitting neglected on my hard drive if you hadn't helped motivate me to finish it…

"On the bed," Simon said to Mal. He walked to the counter and pulled out a syringe, then he grabbed a bottle of clear liquid and filled it up. He glanced back up at Mal, who hadn't lain down and was watching him. "The bed," Simon said again.

With a frown, Mal moved over to it. "You're not stickin' me with anything," he said shortly.

"Well, considering you're my only way off this ship, that would be stupid, wouldn't it?" Simon asked vaguely. "I want you to pretend to be unconscious."

"Why?" Mal asked.

"Because Claine told me to sedate you," Simon said, tapping the needle of the syringe before slipping it up his sleeve. "We can't afford a firefight, Mal. Just trust me."

Mal glared at him. "You don't trust me," he said. Simon paused, not sure how to respond to that, because he wasn't entirely sure that Mal wasn't right about that.

River, who had been watching the whole thing with amusement, shook her head. "Simon will get us out the door," she told Mal. "From there we can get back to Serenity." She grinned at him, widely. "Play dead."

Mal grumbled a little, but laid back and closed his eyes, going still. Simon hit the release on the door. "It's done," he said to Claine. "He was reluctant to let me inject him with anything, but I was able to convince him."

Claine gave an acknowledging snort and pushed into the room. Simon was surprised to realize he actually could fit. "You done good, doc," Claine said with a harsh laugh. "Might jus' keep you around."

Claine leaned over Mal, giving him a little shake. Simon let the syringe slip down to the palm of his hand, and stepped up behind the big man. Quickly, he jammed the needle into the back of his neck. Claine let out a low growl and reached back to claw at whatever had hit him, and Mal sat up, drawing his gun. Simon just stepped away from Claine and watched, as a second later, he slipped straight to the floor.

Mal grinned a little and holstered the gun. "He dead?" he asked.

"Just unconscious," Simon said, sounding surprised.

"Thought so," Mal said sadly. "Shame." He turned to glance at River before leaning out the doorway, checking to make sure it was clear. "Okay, let's get the hell out of here."

"I need my medical bag," Simon said.

"No time," Mal said easily, taking a few cautious steps.

"River needs those medications," Simon said firmly. He slipped past Mal and started heading in the opposite direction, River on his heels. Mal cursed but followed them, pulling his gun out again, checking the clip to make sure it was loaded with soft bullets and not the type to pierce the hull. He had no idea where River had gotten her hands on it.

River grabbed a shoulder bag that held some of their clothes and Simon grabbed his medical bag, everything else they left behind. Mal grinned when he saw the bullets were soft, he felt like shooting something. Vaguely, he worried he might be spending too much time with Jayne.

"Can we go now?" he asked shortly, when Simon and River slipped back into the hall.

Simon nodded. "There are only four others on the ship," he said. "Claine is locked in the infirmary unconscious, and Captain Grena is probably on the bridge. I don't know where the others are."

Mal nodded, fingers adjusting around the handle of the gun. He led the way down hall. The ship wasn't very large, and the design was mostly straight forward. The hall lead to the kitchen, or what they were using as a kitchen, anyway, and two men sat across from each other at the only table in the room. "Found two more," Mal whispered. "I can take them out."

Simon shook his head. "Stand out of sight with River," he said, giving Mal a slight push against the wall on the other side of the doorway.

"What are you doing?" Mal hissed, reaching to grab Simon as he slipped into the room, but his fingers only caught air.

"Claine is having some problems with our guest," Simon told the men casually, as he entered the room. The two men glanced at him, startled. "Apparently your sedatives are out of date, they aren't working so well. You might want to help him…"

The men cursed and pushed past him irritably, stalking straight through the doorway, and turning without noticing River or Mal. Once they had turned a corner Mal and River entered the kitchen, and Mal locked the door behind them. "That leaves two," he said.

"You choose the wrong two to leave till last, Captain."

The three of them turned around at the voice, resigned. Captain Grena and his second in command, Havis, were both armed and standing at the other end of the room.

"You gotta way out of this one?" Mal whispered to Simon.

Simon shook his head. "This seems more your area of experience, actually," he said back.

The two men they had locked from the room had begun pounding on the door at their backs, and Grena shook his head. "Trying to steal off with my doctor? Not very honest of you, Captain. And I took you all for good folk. Please put that gun down, before I have to shoot you. I'd hate to ding up my boat."

Mal didn't lower it, trying to calculate the odds. He could kill either one of them with one clean shot, but the other would be free to retaliate, and Simon or River could easily get caught in the crossfire.

"He said put the gun down," River said firmly. "You should do as he says, Captain."

Grena smiled at this turn of events, laughing a little as River pulled the gun from Mal's grip. Mal watched her bemused, and she smiled at him, turning back around to face Grena again. Then she closed her eyes, and shot Grena straight between his.

Grena's smile congealed, his eyes the only part of him registering shock. Havis looked disbelieving, and didn't immediately retaliate. River glanced over at him, slowly opening her eyes, and smiled. "You can be Captain now," she said simply. "Or you can be dead."

Havis let them pass without another word, and the moment they were in the airlock, Mal pulled the gun from her hands. Simon was watching her with wide eyes, and River wanted to tell him that it was okay, that he had to die and she was only the instrument, but she feared he wouldn't understand. Mal holstered the gun. "That was some shot," he said, sounding a little shaken himself.

River smiled when the airlock opened to Serenity, and she saw Zoe, Wash, Kaylee, Book and Jayne. Inara was up on the balcony, smiling down. "I just got lucky," she said, and skipped inside.

-----

It wasn't as weird to be back on Serenity as it probably should have been. Simon had resigned himself to never returning, but there was a part of him that had never really accepted that, some part that had always known he would end up right back where he was. Leaving Serenity had been almost as hard as leaving Osiris that first time, and the only reason it had been easier at all was because at least now River was with him.

He winced a little, remembering Grena standing dead with his grotesque smile frozen in place. River was dangerous. He knew that, had known it since the moment he had gotten her back, but he didn't like to think about it. When he pictured his sister he still saw her dancing, spinning in circles, not holding guns. She was dangerous, but she was still an innocent, and it was still his responsibility to make things right again.

"We haven't had much time to talk."

Simon came to halt at the words, both in motion and thought. Mal was leaning against the door to his quarters, blocking his way in. He glanced at the floor. "I really have to find River…"

"River's fine," Mal said. "She's playing games with Kaylee like she ain't never left."

Simon nodded, his excuse to get away effectively thrown out, and resigned himself to a confrontation. "If this is about what happened on the ship," he said, "about River…"

Mal pushed off the wall, coming to stand in front of him at full height. "This ain't about her, this is about you."

"I did what I thought I had to," Simon snapped defensively.

"For the top three percent you can be pretty stupid," Mal said. "You nearly got both yourself and your sister killed and for what, Simon, because we had a disagreement?"

"I understand you're the Captain," Simon said. "I try to follow your rules best I can, Mal, I do, but my sister comes first before anything for me and she always will."

"That ship was better for her, then, was it?" Mal asked, stepping closer. "I don't think you left because of her, I think you did it for yourself."

Simon looked up to glare at him. "Maybe I did it for you," he snapped.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mal asked, incredulous.

"I'm tired of watching people get hurt because of us," Simon said. "I'm tired of putting people back together because of us, you would all be better off if River and I had never…"

"Hold it," Mal snapped. "If you and River had never shown up, how many of us would be dead, do you think? I sure as hell would be without you, and that thing with Niska, that had nothin' to do with you, Simon. He didn't grab me because of you, but you're still the one that put me back together."

"Even so," Simon started, but Mal shook his head, cutting him off. "We're a crew now, Simon, whether it's what you wanted or not. I know you want to only have to worry about River, you think you owe her all of your attention, but it's too late for that now."

"I do care," Simon said, trying to move past Mal. "Okay? I do, I wouldn't have left if I didn't…"

Mal grabbed his arm before he could slip away into his quarters. "You want me to believe you left to keep us from getting hurt?" Mal asked. "Fine, okay. It's a screwed up kind of logic but I can see it comin' from you. You seemed to forget to take something into account, though, doc. We kinda started to like you an' your sister. You both leavin' like that, it hurt too."

Simon didn't bother to try and disengage himself from Mal's hold. "Then I'm sorry for that," he said.

"You ever leave again," Mal said tightly. "You'd damn well better at least say goodbye."

Simon still wouldn't meet his eyes. "Sometimes there isn't time for goodbye, Captain."

"And sometimes there's no need for it at all," Mal said, and released his arm.

-----

River appeared in his doorway as he putting away the few clothes they had managed to hold onto. "You still don't understand," she said. "They made you so untrusting."

He paused, his hands stilling over one of his vests, he ran his thumb over the button, and then glanced up at her. "I trust you, River."

"I'm the only one then," she said, stepping inside. "You don't even trust yourself."

Simon collapsed down on his bed, and River came to sit beside him. "Thank you for what you did," he whispered. "You really are the one taking care of me, aren't you?"

She grinned slyly. "Everyone knows that, Simon."

"River," Simon started, looking down at his hands. He sighed. "I can't ever seem to help anyone, can I?"

"You save lives, Simon. There's a hamster somewhere that shares your name." River reached over, lacing her hand through one of his.

"I'm not talking about that kind of help," he whispered. "I know how to fix things up, I just can't seem to protect anyone, can't stop them getting hurt in the first place."

"No one can," River said. "The sooner you realize, the better you'll be."

"You did," he said. "River, where did you even learn to use a gun?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, somehow afraid to meet her gaze head on.

"I read books about guns," River said, staring at the far wall. "They're just like any other thing. It isn't hard to use one—you don't even have to look, if you don't want to."

Simon bit his lip. "And you're okay with that?" he asked gently. "You killed him, River…"

"Yes, I did," she said, her eyes slipping up towards the ceiling. "He makes six."

Simon paused. "Six?" he asked cautiously. Kaylee had mentioned three, and he'd watched her kill another, but there couldn't be more than that. "There was only four, River," he said quietly.

She shook her head. "I killed the first set of two." She glanced over at him, smiling shyly. "They looked better in red than blue."

The End.